#x a fake reputation is all a man has x nella ryder

[feuerfliegen]

@miss-polly plotted starter

"I do not wish to intrude on you tonight", it was already late in the day, dusk settling over the forest and shadows creeping along the paths. This was why Nella had stopped at the small inn, a place Maximus had discovered - surely to get her off of the road. "We need a place to stay, me and my horse. A barn would be just fine, miss, or maybe a sheltered place nearby?"

Nella did not actually want to ask for a room inside. Last thing she wanted was to leave Max behind, so far from home and after everything that had happened. And there was still the issue of her bad luck - curse you could call it. The black-haired woman in front of her seemed nice enough, there was no reason to bring darkness to her doorstep. "We can pay though", she shook her head slightly, "I mean I can pay. He's just a horse." As she motioned towards Max he snorted at that remark, as if he wanted to disagree. "But I have money, so your help will not be for naught."

Money and a dream were all she really had.

[feuerfliegen]

@bronzeshadows for Ryn

"Are you sure it's supposed to do that?" The last thing Nella wanted was to break the other's concentration but if truth be told she was still a bit nervous about magic. She had no powers of her own - at least none that she knew of - no golden hair to heal, no song to sing with the birds. All Nella had were the stories of her childhood, of evil witches and high towers. "I mean, not to criticize you, but I do not want to end up blown to pieces just because I asked the wrong magician for help." Ups, that sounded rude.

[feuerfliegen]

@w0rldruin Nella for Robyn

"That was one hell of a good shot", Nella stepped out of the trees, one hand on her hip - where her dagger was hidden - and one gracefully moving the leaves out of the way. She wanted to give this other girl a clear sight, allow her to realize that Nella was not a threat, only someone passing by. "You're skill is admirable."

[feuerfliegen]

"Nella, seriously, we need to go!" / Ryn @bronzeshadows

Maximus nudged her side as if he wanted to agree with Ryn. Time was running out and she could already hear footsteps echoing on the pavement behind them. Someone was coming, darkness crept in.

But Nella stood her ground. She had come this far, she would not turn her back now.

"Take the horse then", she threw the reigns in Ryn's direction, ignoring the side-eye Max was giving her, "Get out of here with the information we gathered and tell the others. This is too important to mess up."

And if truth be told Nella preferred to not be there when Artair heard of this anyway. A sacrifice for the revolution or whatever. "But I am staying. If what they say about the flower is true I cannot turn now. I have never gotten so close to finding out what happened to my father, I cannot stop now. Not now." She was yelling now, her feet already moving her away from Ryn and Max, towards the shadows. If she wanted to be as brave as her parents she could not stumble, her heart must remain steadfast.

[feuerfliegen]

Let me beat in your heart Be your drum of war and love Let me hide in your arms Be my cage, my key, my lock

Nella Ryder hearing the story of her father's death.

[feuerfliegen]

@caracarnn unprompted / half-plotted

"Is it true what they say?", making her way past the city guards Nella all but attacks the first person she sees with her question, "The man they call the dragon reborn is here? In this city?" She has traveled far and the exhaustion is clearly painted upon her face. Please don't let me be too late, she prays to every saint that might listen, please let him still be here.

[feuerfliegen]

@w0rldruin for Alice

"Wait a minute - You live here?", arms crossed in front of her chest Nella stared at the blonde girl in front of her, blinking. Rapunzel's daughter... That made no sense, she was Rapunzel's daughter! And this dreadful tower should have been brought down years ago. "I thought this tower was just a ruin. How'd you get here?"

[feuerfliegen]

I have emotions about Nella, so here have some tiny headcanon snippets of things that came to mind while rewatching T.angled:

I see the Light is the song her parents used to sing her to sleep for years, it still reminds her of them and sometimes she can hear the melody upon the wind. But the lyrics that Mother Gothel used to tap into the flower's magic are forbidden in the kingdom, never heard again, not after that last time she used them to save Eugene.

Eugene read The Adventures of Flynnigan Ryder to her, but Nella was never aware that her father used the name during his years as a thief. Yet it is the name she chooses once she leaves the castle, no matter if it is on an adventure or because of Gothel returning and her parents disappearing.

Throughout Nella's entire childhood, her grandparents Frederic and Arianna were still ruling Corona, so she grew up in peace and prosperity.

She learned to ride on Maximus and he never once let her fall, yet Nella is not afraid of taking a fall and she is a skilled rider on any horse. Having her mother's love for animals and her skill in charting the stars Nella never loses direction when on horseback.

When she was little her father Eugene taught her how to pick a pocket and King Frederic always had a few coins and small trinkets hidden away for his little granddaughter to steal. Nella would play with them before returning the trinkets and leaving the coins with children more in need.